1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an adjustable, hand held scraping tool for scraping across a rigid surface, especially a non-planer surface, to shave and prepare said surface for a final treatment.
2. The Background Art
It is often desirable to thoroughly or selectively shave the surface of rigid workpieces. A surface shaving treatment can be performed to alter the shape of the workpiece, remove unwanted material from the workpiece, and/or improve the adherence and appearance of preliminary and final coatings on the workpiece. For example, in refinishing a wooden workpiece, a worker may wish to remove some or all of any glues, primers, or paints thereon with a preliminary shaving or sanding treatment before staining, painting or otherwise coating the surface.
In the case of a splintery wooden workpiece, a worker may want to remove part or all of the surface itself. It may also be desirable to round the corners of a workpiece. Where two or more workpieces abut each other at a joint, a worker may want to shave down one of the surfaces so that the joint is a smooth transition between the workpieces. Shaving and sanding treatments are more difficult to perform when the surface to be treated includes design grooves, ridges or other non-planer structure. Of current interest are hand-held devices for mechanically shaving generally rigid, non-planer surfaces on a workpiece.
It is often important when preparing a work surface for a final coating to uniformly scrape all portions of the surface without unduly wearing off some portions. However, this is often difficult to do when the work surface includes hard-to-reach grooves and crevices which require extra effort to scrape. It is therefore desirable to simultaneously shave some or all points on a non-planer surface with a single scraping motion.
Scrapers with handles offer enhanced gripping action and leverage, but some scraping needs are better accomplished by a scraper that is removable from the cumbersome handle. Other scraping needs involve contoured surfaces to be scraped which are positioned at varying angles relative to the worker and therefore require the worker to adjust the position of a scraping edge. Further, it is desirable to maintain a sharp scraping edge which can be quickly and easily sharpened.
There is thus a need to achieve a single apparatus useful for shaving an irregularly shaped or otherwise non-planer work surface with a scraping edge that can be adjusted and removed, and quickly and easily sharpened with a simple sharpener. There is also a need for such a device which provides a range of light to heavy-duty shaving action, is easy to use and relatively inexpensive to make. There is a further need for such a device which allows the user to avoid reducing or removing portions of the work surface during scraping. Those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that these and other needs are met by the present invention.